Adrenaline junkies

Heart rate: 178 BPM // The global phenomenon that redefined horror isn't finished haunting us yet. Now live on stage, Paranormal Activity follows James and Lou as they learn that places aren't haunted — people are. Quite possibly the scariest thing in London right now (other than the house prices).

Heart rate: 192 BPM // The UK's thrill capital, and the closest full day of adrenaline to London. From Hyperia — Britain's tallest, fastest coaster — to Stealth's 0–80mph launch, it's back-to-back blood pumpers from gates open to kicking-out time. Pace yourself. Or don't

Heart rate: 158 BPM // The Horsemen storm the London Coliseum for a strictly limited season of high-tech illusions and genuinely dangerous stunts. There's a live scorpion involved — that's all we're saying. Blink and you'll miss the trick. So don't blink.

Heart rate: 113 BPM // The anthems of The Greatest Showman, belted out while performers swing, flip and dangle overhead with alarming confidence. "This Is Me" hits different when someone's mid-air. The adrenaline is second-hand; the stomach drops are all yours.

Heart rate: 129 BPM // The adrenaline here is entirely psychological. Take a seat at the round table, complete missions and work out who's lying to your face, or learn to lie better. Faithful or Traitor, your pulse won't know the difference.

Heart rate: 166 BPM // A thousand years of London's grisliest history, told by actors who can smell your fear. Plague doctors, Sweeney Todd and a drop ride styled as a public hanging… it's the only history lesson that lunges at you. Educational, technically.

Heart rate: 149 BPM // Hawkins, 1959. The Olivier Award-winning prequel to the Netflix phenomenon serves up illusions so startling the whole row flinches in unison. Proof that the theatre can out-thrill the telly, and turn the West End 'Upside Down'.

Heart rate: 137 BPM // Write a name, end a life. Frank Wildhorn's musical of the cult manga pits genius student Light against the elusive Detective L in a cat-and-mouse duel where one slip is fatal. No jump scares, just a noose of tension that tightens with every song.

Heart rate: 185 BPM // Fourteen loops on The Smiler (still a world record by the way) plus Oblivion's sheer vertical drop and a freshly reborn Nemesis. Alton Towers is the pilgrimage: further to travel, but bigger on arrival. Bring your nerve.

Heart rate: 143 BPM // Agatha Christie hands you a man's life and asks what you'd do with it. Staged in a real courtroom chamber with the audience in the jury box, this is suspense at point-blank range. A Nail-biting thriller from first objection to the final, twisting verdict.